Roma coach Gian Piero Gasperini did not hide his huge disappointment after the painful 3:4 loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League. The coach responded sharply to his colleague Jose Mourinho and emphasized that the "wolves" had clearly outplayed their opponent, before allowing a shocking collapse in static situations in the final minutes.
The match at the "Olimpico" offered an exceptional drama, in which the Romans showed both the best and the weakest of their game. The hosts fully deservedly led 3:1 after a goal by Martin de Roon and two goals by Donyel Malen. However, catastrophic defensive errors at corner kicks led to three unanswered goals in their own goal between the 83rd and 90th minutes. Carlos Espi, Endrik and former Roma defender Antonio Rüdiger scored in identical fashion and brought the turnaround for the "white ballet".
„They were taking corners before the break, but in the last minutes we seemed paralyzed with fear at those crosses. We conceded too many easy goals. We are extremely sorry, because a match played in this way should not have ended with this epilogue“, began a disappointed Gasperini after the end of the match.
In the entire first half, the Spanish giants had only one accurate shot, converted into a goal by Kylian Mbappe, while Thibaut Courtois had to intervene decisively several times.
“We must rely on the positives. Although this defeat weighs heavily, we must shake it off quickly so as not to erase all the good things shown on the pitch. It is difficult to swallow, but we performed at a high level, and in the end we failed ourselves. "Without belittling Real Madrid's skills in static situations, we were too passive," added the "Giallorossi" coach.
Gasperini also did not remain indebted to Jose Mourinho, who after the final whistle said that Roma looked "dead" at the end of the match.
"If there was a team that looked physically exhausted, it was Real Madrid. We outplayed them in all respects. They only scored from corners, while in the rest of the match we were completely at our best. It is true that we have to learn how to close matches until the very end, because those final minutes turned out to be decisive," said Gasperini.
To top it off, the Italian specialist also had to deal with new health problems in the squad. Manu Kone left the pitch in tears in the 17th minute, and Paulo Dybala was also forced off at half-time due to a muscle ailment. The Romans are already in the infirmary with Mile Svilar with a broken toe and Brian Cristante with a knee injury.
“With Kone it is definitely a muscular problem - a strain, which seems more serious. Dybala felt a tightness in the muscle, so we will have to wait for the tests“, added Gasperini.
After two rounds of the tournament, Roma has only one point to its credit, won during the visit of Fenerbahce in Turkey (1:1).